Judge Sanctioned Private Prison Giant for Destroying Evidence in ICE Death Suit
A judge has sanctioned CoreCivic for destroying video evidence in a wrongful death lawsuit involving an ICE detainee. This is the first known instance of a private prison company being held accountable for such actions. The case centered around the death of Kesley Vial, a Brazilian asylum-seeker who died after a suicide attempt in custody.
- ▪CoreCivic was sanctioned for destroying video evidence related to the wrongful death of an ICE detainee.
- ▪The judge's sanction allows the jury to presume the missing evidence was unfavorable to CoreCivic.
- ▪Kesley Vial, the detainee in question, died after attempting suicide at a CoreCivic facility in New Mexico.
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| Original publisher | The Intercept |
| Canonical URL | https://theintercept.com/2026/05/24/ice-corecivic-death-private-prison-judge/ |
| Publication time | Sun, 24 May 2026 09:00:00 +0000 |
| Retrieval time | 2026-05-24T09:02:31.570Z |
| Last seen | 2026-05-24T09:46:02.734Z |
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| Commercial reuse | May the content be reused commercially? | Not permitted |
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Opening excerpt (first ~120 words) tap to expand
Judge Sanctioned Private Prison Giant for Destroying Evidence in ICE Death Suit The first known sanction of its kind held CoreCivic responsible for destroying video in a case alleging wrongful death of an ICE detainee. Timothy Pratt May 24 2026, 5:00 a.m. Share Copy link Share on Facebook Share on Bluesky Share on X Share on LinkedIn Share on WhatsApp A CoreCivic detention center in Leavenworth, Kansas, on March 3, 2025. Photo: Emily Curiel/The Kansas City Star/Tribune News Service via Getty Images A judge Issued what appears to be the first-ever sanction against the private prison giant CoreCivic for destroying video evidence in a case alleging wrongful death of a man who died by suicide in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody.
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Excerpt limited to ~120 words for fair-use compliance. The full article is at The Intercept.
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